1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical instrument for spreading apart adjacent body parts of a patient during surgery. The disclosed embodiment is specifically designed for spreading apart and maintaining in spread-apart condition adjacent metatarsals for convenient access by a foot surgeon.
2. Prior Art
A fairly common affliction of the foot is development of a painful neuroma close to or between the heads of adjacent metatarsals, such as along the third common digital nerve in the area of the transverse metatarsal ligament where such nerve curves plantarward. Treatment can be by surgical excision of the neuroma. It is important to excise the neuroma completely, but access to the affected area can be limited by the closely spaced bones and the ligament itself.
There is no known instrument designed specifically for spreading apart and retaining in spread-apart condition the adjacent metatarsals, but instruments designed primarily for other purposes have been used. Retractors having long handles and more or less hooked ends can be fitted between the adjacent bones and pulled apart manually by a surgical assistant. Clever surgeons have tried flattening the blades of known retractors with pivoted opposing jaws, but the flattened blades can be difficult to insert between the metatarsals and can slip or even pop out from between the bones.